JM Coetzee: Universities head for extinction

JM Coetzee writes a letter published int he M&G to his ex- colleague Prof. Higgins on the decline of academic freedom both in South African universities and the West.

Dear John.

Thank you for letting me see your essays on academic freedom in South Africa. The general question you address – “Is a university still a university when it loses its academic autonomy?” – seems to me of the utmost importance to the future of higher education in South Africa.